Hosting Tips

15 Holiday Wreaths to Inspire Serious Front Door Envy

Just a few short weeks until we haul out the holly and deck the halls for the holiday season, but around Team CS headquarters, Christmas has been in full swing for awhile as we craft, style, cook up our posts for next month. If you’re feeling as festive as we are and in the mood to jump-start your holiday […]

Get Snowed-In In Style with These 12 Pajama Sets

I’ll never forget winter break 2014. Hanukah had come early that year, and since we don’t celebrate Christmas, we had absolutely nowhere to be between December 23rd and January 5th. It seemed everyone we knew was out of town, we were dog sitting our friends’ adorable frenchie, and between businesses being shut down for the holidays and cold […]

3 Recipes for a Gluten-Free Thanksgiving

photography by Molly Winters; featured image from Artful Desperado Editor’s Note: If you’ve been to Picnik, or even just heard of it, you’re aware that Naomi Seifter and her team are doing something special. Known for their real food and good vibes, the restaurant is the only place in Austin where you can grab bone broth or […]

Apple, Blackberry, & Thyme Slab Pie

ed. note: As Thanksgiving approaches, we’ve been spotting tons of “slab pies” around the web and love their rustic look and (most of all) their ability to easily feed a crowd. We called in our go-to expert on all things pastry, chef Callie Speer, to share her most delicious slab pie recipe with a few tips on achieving […]

Spiced Hard Cider

Click here for more recipes to whip up for your next fall gathering! “Cider has had a well-deserved comeback recently, and these days local producers are upping the cider game by making complex, refreshing versions that showcase local fruit (and are much less sweet than former “boozy apple juice” versions). As good as hard cider […]

The Menu for Your Next Fall Brunch

editor’s note: I found a new kitchen staple in Eric Prum and Josh Williams’ cookbook, Host. Chock full of inspired-yet-approachable recipes and advice for creating delicious meals for friends, the book truly feels like it was written for me and others like me who just like to keep things simple and tasty. But if you thought this cookbook was […]

Burrata with Caramelized Squash, Pine Nuts and Golden Raisins

Click here for more recipes to whip up for your next fall gathering! “Burrata is essentially your favorite fresh mozzarella with a cream-filled center — basically the best thing ever created. As with fresh mozz, burrata classically is partnered with summer’s fresh tomatoes and basil. But we see no reason to give up our burrata […]

My Front Porch Has Never Looked Scarier

I’ve got to admit that I finally feel like a real grown-up: for the first time ever, I decked out my front porch for Halloween! Inspired by Phoebe’s obsession with all of the scary front porches around our neighborhood, I decided that this was the year to finally go for it — and decorating the space ended up […]

Asparagus, Quinoa, & Rice Salad with Goat Cheese & Maple-Tahini Dressing

This post is sponsored by Mars SEEDS OF CHANGE® and Target It’s become a running Thanksgiving joke at our house. Each year when I start planning the menu for our family feast, everyone else votes to have the exact same menu items as last year, but I just can’t help myself from spicing things up with something a little different. […]

Boursin Cheese Witch Fingers

Just a few weeks until Halloween and I swear I could celebrate this holiday forever. To me, there’s simply no challenge more fun than figuring out how to make things spooky but also beautiful (see our spine-chilling but chic Halloween dinner party for the evidence!) and today’s Halloween appetizer recipe is another example of that. Because let’s be […]

Wax Dipped Flowers

Did y’all catch the black-on-black Halloween dinner party we threw last week? Our tablescape was packed with candelabras, vintage books, creepy photos, and old apothecary jars. Wanting to stay on theme with our spooky vibe, I coated traditional red roses with black wax to create a gorgeous Halloween dinner party favor. Today, I’m showing you how to recreate […]

Heathers Group Costume

We needed some pro help when it came to creating this very specific look, so we called up our friend and stylist Dagny Piasecki of SHDW Studios to help us dress like real “mean girls” from the 80’s. Dagny has an amazing personal collection of vintage, which she graciously loaned to us for the shoot. Footnote: If you haven’t already seen […]

DIY Tropicana Girl Costume

This colorful costume was definitely our favorite to put together! We fell in love with the bright colors, bold patterns, and fun accessories. Our chiquita costume can be executed in so many different ways that it suites any body type and any form of personal style. We went crazy with an abundance of accessories and […]

“Kitchen Sink” Halloween Chocolate Bark

I’m a little mystified as to why I haven’t experimented with chocolate bark before, because (a) it is ridiculously easy and so delicious, and (b) I’m not sure that I’ve ever had so much fun making a dessert! You can get real creative with throwing in all kinds of toppings (like I did here), marbling different […]

Beatlemania Group Costume

It was just over 50 years ago when a record-breaking 73 million Americans tuned into the Ed Sullivan show to watch the live debut of a Britain band who called themselves the Beatles. Soon, lives everywhere would be changed forever and especially so for young and impressionable teenage girls. As pictures from concerts surfaced, mobs […]

The Bachelor Contestants Group Costume

Can we all just admit that we secretly watch “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” in the comfort of our own homes? From traveling across the world for exotic dates to intense cat fight drama, the producers really know how to keep us interested. This Halloween, we were inspired by America’s guiltiest pleasure and created an easy DIY […]